Who we are

The Third Teacher+ is an educational design consultancy within the global architecture firm, Cannon Design. We’re a multidisciplinary group that looks at the whole picture, the whole ecology of learning. We design learning environments and use design thinking to strategize cultural, pedagogical and organizational change with clients. Our living practice was born out of a collaborative research experience that resulted in the book, The Third Teacher.

Design for change

We believe that design can be a powerful driver of organizational learning and change. Our process is human-centered, connection seeking, experiential, and iterative. We believe that this approach and mindset is crucial to uncovering who we are as organizations, communities, and cultures and shaping who we want to become. Our process helps us facilitate authentic and holistic conversations on change. The design of places and spaces helps make manifest these shared values and empowers communities to learn, work, play, create, and connect more richly.

Our team

We believe that wicked teams are rooted in diverse experiences and shared values. Within our team, we have backgrounds ranging from architecture to education, ethnography to community organizing, project management to communication strategy, and education policy to learning technology. We are travelers, writers, improvisors, makers, and artists in between. Together, we learn alongside each other and our clients as we use design to transform communities. Learn more about our team members.

Our Network

Our team has on-going access to a remarkable network of global thought leaders exploring the relationship between "innovation" and "the future of learning," some of which are project partners and others are guests of our TTT+ salon series. Finally, we are fortunate to work with over 1,000 of the finest architects and engineers around the world through Cannon Design.

We are a multidisciplinary design team passionately exploring the future of learning.